DuPont has announced
that their systemic fungicide Benlate will be withdrawn from the market
as of the end of 2001, reports the Pesticide Action Network. During the
33 years it has been on the market, Benlate has been repeatedly linked
to extensive crop damage and causing adverse health effects.

According to the Farm
Chemicals Handbook, Benlate, a formulation of benomyl, is toxic to fish
although it is placed in toxicity category IV, for low acute toxicity.
It has been tied to chronic birth defects and cancer, and it is listed
as an endocrine disruptor. Some of the children whose parents have sued
DuPont over the years were born with too small or missing eyes. According
to The News Journal (May 29,1999) a Delaware newspaper, DuPont had spent
at least $1 billion on litigation on Benlate, but continued to assert
that the chemical does not cause health problems.

In 1996, a Florida
jury awarded $4.4 million to the family of a child born with underdeveloped
eyes after his mother was exposed to Benlate, but the decision was overturned
because the judge improperly allowed consideration of evidence of animal
studies that showed that Benlate caused birth defects.

As of 1996, DuPont
had paid more than one-half billion dollars for property damage due to
Benlate. Benlate has been linked to crop damage in at least 23 states.
The Florida Department of Agriculture found that Benlate 50DF was conclusively
linked to "significant to substantial" crop damage, including
stunting, distorted leaf growth and interference with root growth.

In an April 14, 1994
press release, the Commissioner of the Florida Agricultural and Consumer
Services (FDACS) confirmed the development of a methodology which detected
the sulfonyl urea (SU) herbicide Londax in DuPont's Benlate DF formulations.
According to the Commissioner, SUs are "100 times more toxic to plants
than any pesticide on the market prior to 1982." As a result, the
commissioner filed an administrative action against DuPont for selling
adulterated and misbranded pesticides in connection with 1,200 Florida
damage cases. According to FDACS, it took two years to uncover the contamination
because of (1) DuPont's unwillingness to release documents; and, (2) lack
of methodology to detect SUs at minuscule levels.

For more information
about Benlate's toxicity and history of causing crop damage, contact Beyond
Pesticides/NCAMP at [email protected].